More than 4,000 members of the Somerville community chose six community-developed projects to share $1 million in municipal funding from the city’s second participatory budget cycle this spring. Voters decided to direct money to after-school youth enrichment programs, food and storage to supply community fridges, one mile of separated bicycle lanes, new native plant pollinator gardens, drop-off bins for food scraps and more rat control measures.
All project funding was approved by city councilors this month and by the mayor on July 15. All residents 12 and older were encouraged to participate via the city’s online participatory budgeting platform, which allowed users to choose and rank multiple proposals. Voters were allowed to select five proposals from 20 options. Cambridge and Boston have used the same tool.
A separated bike lane project will get more than a third of the funding, or $400,000, to help the city with 2026 bicycle network plans, as outlined in a Finance Department memo to the City Council.
The second-highest funding, $220,000, goes to “Boost Somerville’s Nutrition Security Network” by allowing purchase of a walk-in refrigerator and freezer to help improve access to fresh healthy food.
The city can buy 40 additional “Smart Boxes” to trap and electrocute rodents such as rats, along with deterrents to burrowing, for $120,000.
The city got more ideas about green spaces, parks and community resources and less about streets and sidewalk repairs than in the 2023 process, budget analyst Megan Huckenpahler noted. In the first cycle, the city got many ideas that were converted into 311 tickets as service requests and issue submissions – leading to the city linking to 311 on the idea submission webpage.
Some of the proposals not selected included money toward replacing park benches, improving school crossings and a proposal to “encourage voter and civic participation by sending mailers to residents on how to be involved … on local boards and commissions and run for office.”
Though the funding represents less than 1 percent of the city’s annual spending, Huckenpahler praised the “democratic and representative” process, sharing her hope that participatory budgeting makes it easier for folks to access and get involved civically. (The idea-review process last fall was virtual instead of in-person “to better accommodate volunteers balancing responsibilities like child care or needing to find transportation,” she said.)
Some of the budget process volunteers have joined boards and commissions and now even work for the city, Huckenpahler indicated.
The city sent mailers to all residential addresses, “available in all of our translated languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, traditional and simplified Chinese, and Nepalese,” with no requirements for participants to show proof of citizenship or residency when voting or submitting an idea.
Voter demographics survey results for the year’s participatory budgeting were not available; 2023 demographic results showed white people between 25 to 44 from high-income households were the most active in the process, with 84 percent of voters identifying as white and two-thirds were from that age range. (The survey was sent to all respondents after voting, but demographic information reflects only those who provided it.)
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Great to see Somerville residents embracing street safety and sustainable transportation.
Including demographics is only helpful if it’s in comparison to full Somerville demographics, so it’s best if the article includes that too. You can look it up at https://data.census.gov
For example, the age demographics: https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDP1Y2023.DP05?q=DP05:+ACS+Demographic+and+Housing+Estimates&g=160XX00US2562535
Here you can see that 52% of Somerville residents are age 25 to 44 (this is of all residents including children, so the actual number, % of eligible-to-vote residents, is therefore closer to survey results).